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5 sentenced to death in Pakistan over killing Christian couple


Five people have been sentenced to death and another eight have been sentenced to prison over the gruesome killing two years ago of a Christian couple in eastern Pakistan.
The lawyer representing the family of Shahzad Masih and Shama Bibi, the couple who were lynched and then burned in a kiln near the town of Kot Radha Kishan in Punjab in 2014, said on Wednesday that the court in Lahore exonerated a total of 90 people from the violent mob involved in the attacks but found 13 people guilty.
The five people "were involved in dragging, beating and burning the couple while the other eight played a supportive role according to the judgment," Riaz Anjum said, adding that the eight others were given two years' imprisonment.
A senior prosecutor in Lahore confirmed the ruling, without elaborating. Khurram Khan did not specify when the death sentences would be carried out.
The couple had been accused of desecrating the Quran by tossing out pages of the holy Muslim book along with the rubbish. Later investigations showed that the claims were false as Masih and Bibi were illiterate and there were personal motives involved, including the couple’s debt to some people in the neighborhood.
The lynching sparked huge outrage in Punjab and other areas in Pakistan as witnesses recounted how the couple was attacked by the angry mob and then tossed into the brick kiln. Many Christians fled the area after the violence.
The verdict on Wednesday is a rarity in Pakistan as police and judiciary in the country have been mostly reluctant to crack down on mob violence out of fear that it could lead to more sectarian tensions.

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